Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes

Oh, everything is so cute when it’s miniature! When I saw these Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes, I knew I just had to try them. I love cheesecake and I love pumpkin, so why not combine the two?

And really, can I just take a minute to say how awesome pumpkin, and squash in general, is? I mean, you can use it in so many ways: breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and desserts! Sweet and savory!

These cheesecakes are obviously as sweet as can be. They took a little work, but they are worth the effort. Plus, you can make them ahead of time, which is great if you are planning a big meal. Getting as much done ahead of time means less stress!

What To Do
Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a pan with 12 muffin liners. Note that this crust recipe does not work in regular pie pans and only as mini cheesecakes.

Crust
In a large mixing bowl, mix together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Beat in the butter at low speed until thoroughly combined and a dough forms. If you have trouble incorporating it, use your hands. It’ll be sticky.

Divide the dough between the muffin liners. Press the dough down with the bottom of a shot glass. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until the surface of the crust no longer appears wet.

After baking, the crust will still be soft but will firm slightly as it cools. Let cool for 10 minutes while you prepare the cheesecake.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating on low after every addition until thoroughly incorporated. Do not over mix!

Fill each muffin liner to the top with cheesecake batter and bake for 20 minutes or until the middles of the cheesecakes are set and don’t jiggle when the pan is tapped.

Remove from the oven and let the cheesecakes cool in the pan.

Once completely cool (about 1 hour), remove the cheesecakes from the pan and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or until ready to serve. The wrappers come off neatly before and after refrigeration.

Refrigerate the cheesecakes in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Topping
In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, warm the cream just until hot, steamy and on the verge of simmering. Remove from the heat.

Pour this over the chocolate chips and stir until all the chocolate chips are completely melted.

Let cool for about 20-30 minutes or until room temperature before pouring over the chilled cheesecakes.

My Comments
Crust: It took mine several minutes in the mixer to become dough and I did have to stop a couple of times to scrape around the bottom of the bowl. Don’t panic if yours looks like crumbs for a while. I also used a small cookie scoop to distribute the dough and then used a wooden tamper to pack it in (see photo below). I think next time, I will try using a regular graham cracker crust.

Cheesecake Filling: I used a larger cookie scoop to distribute the filling. This reduces spills and batter going where it doesn’t belong. I did have a little leftover batter, which I just put into a small ramekin and baked it without a crust.

Topping: I love ganache but I actually didn’t have enough cream to make enough (oops!), so I decided to follow the directions on the bag of chocolate chips to melt chocolate for dipping. I made half the recipe, which is 1/2 a cup of chips melted with 1/2 a tablespoon of shortening. I did this on the stove, which always works better for me than the microwave. Then I topped it with mini chocolate chips…because they’re so darn cute!

Some Photos Along the Way
Crust ingredients before adding butter

The crust dough after adding butter

Dividing crust dough between muffin liners

The baked crust

Cheesecake filling ingredients before adding eggs

Cheesecake filling with an egg

The baked mini cheesecakes, cooling

Mini cheesecakes with topping

All twelve mini pumpkin cheesecakes

Whew! Really, these aren’t hard, just a bit time consuming. And wow, once you take a bite, you’ll forget all about all your troubles! Well, that might be a slight exaggeration, but these are quite tasty…and maybe for a few minutes you’ll bask in the pumpkin-y cheesecake-y goodness of these adorable little treats.